Libby City Council will move forward next week in the hiring process for a new city administrator. The new position will replace the current supervisor of city services, who is retiring in the fall.

The application deadline is Friday at 5 p.m. and as of Wednesday afternoon, the city had received about 20 applications – four local and the remaining from out-of-state.

“I think they have a reasonable pool to draw from, from what I’ve seen,” said Dan Thede, supervisor of city services. “There’s a pretty wide range that’s come in.”

Thede hopes to have time to show the ropes to the new supervisor before his last day on Sept. 30. The new position is quite similar to Thede’s, but requires less hands-on work with city departments and more grant writing and attention to the budget.

The council will take a few days next week to sift through applications and determine who to interview.

Mayor Doug Roll anticipates conducting phone interviews for out-of-town applicants in the first round.

“We’ll keep whittling it down until we have three or four applicants,” Roll said. “Then we’ll probably require a physical interview for everyone (the second round).”

Thede has held his position for 15 years and has worked for the city a total of 24 years.

Libby has also been advertising this month to fill its chief of police position. Outgoing chief Clay Coker works his final days on the job this week. He plans to attend law school.

The application deadline for that position is Aug. 24.